Connecting audiences and artists, making movies matter more.
They're some of the key motivators for the talented and passionate Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) team, who are currently busy adding the finishing touches to this year’s edition, which launches this Thursday and runs through to the 24th of August.
No matter your taste, there's plenty in store, too. From screenings of Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or and SXSW Audience Award winners, to virtual reality (VR) documentaries and eclectic animations, the perfect excuse to make the most of our city, and make a day of it.
Here the Festival’s Artistic Director, Al Cossar talks us through its history, film curation process, ways to make the most of the event, and some of his 2025 program highlights.
To begin, could you talk us through the history of the festival?
MIFF originated as the Olinda Film Festival in 1952, and this year, we are delivering the festival’s 73rd edition, making it one of the longest running film festivals in the world.
Its form has changed over the years, moving into metropolitan areas, expanding to eight regional Victorian centres via MIFF Regional, and presenting an array of available films right across Australia via its MIFF Online offering, but it retains a consistent spirit of celebrating incredible film and filmmaking from Australia and all over the globe.
In scale, it has grown to an annual presentation of around 300 films across a marathon 18 days.
What does it aspire to achieve each year?
MIFF aspires to bring people together in celebration of cinema, to connect audiences to artists, to provide professional and developmental opportunities to those emerging and established in the screen industry, and to foreground Australian filmmaking as the single biggest festival presenter of Australian cinema in the world each year.
Our aim is to both present the best and most anticipated cinema of the year, as well as films that are an alternate and antidote to the homogenising of our screen culture – films that you will only see at the festival.
We aspire to make movies matter more – to build a community around cinema, and a sense of resonance to the world around us through our programming, and through our collective experience of it.
What have its key successes or highlights been over the years?
Too many to count! A recent one would be the introduction of our Bright Horizons Competition to coincide with our 70th anniversary in 2022.
It recognises the new, the next, the breakthrough and the best, by celebrating first and second time feature work from international and Australian filmmakers in their moment of global breakthrough, for one of the richest film prizes in the world.
It’s been something really special to watch the calibre of film and filmmakers the competition has attracted to Melbourne, as well as the industry connectivity it's created, and the excitement that has met its introduction and development within the global screen industry. It’s become a core part of our festival and its identity in a short space of time.
How do the team curate the films to appear?
In a variety of ways – we have a public submissions call, which brings in around 4,000 entries every year.
We also scout films in a variety of international settings, or work with other kinds of rightsholders such as distributors, sales agents, film archives and national film bodies to curate a program that combines the present, past, and suggested future of filmmaking – and also includes formats such as Fulldome planetarium, IMAX and XR. We program in a yearly cycle, although some programs may take a number of years to come together.
What are the highlights of this year’s program?
I’m very excited about our Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan of Arc event, where the revered LA musician and composer, along with her band and a local chorus, will present a live score to Dreyer’s iconic work of cinema.
We’ve been looking to get it to Melbourne for the last three years, and the two shows that are being presented at the Melbourne Recital Centre on August 11th and 12th will be unmissable.
Also be sure to check out this year’s Palme d’Or winner direct from Cannes, It Was Just An Accident, screening within our Headliners strand, which has some of the most anticipated festival blockbusters of the whole year, and also includes Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley and Andrew Scott – another program highlight.
How can both Melburnians and visitors get involved?
Grab yourself a MIFF print program, sit down with a coffee and start circling all the things you want to see!
I also encourage people to visit miff.com.au to get tickets, sign up to our newsletter, Widescreen to keep up to date with all of the announcements, and engage with all of the usual MIFF socials.
Do you have any tips for making the most of this year’s festival?
Make a day of it – multitask your movies. Come into the city, see three or four things, break it up with dumplings, drinks, friends – it can be the moments in between the movies that can also make a festival.
I would encourage people to always roll the dice and see something they have no idea about, or would never usually seek out. Getting outside of the usual onslaught of pop culture can be one of the joys of the festival in opening up a whole new world of cinema that’s out there.
From Footy Shorts to MIFF Schools, the festival is very ingrained in the community. What inspired such initiatives?
It bears repeating – MIFF wants to make movies matter more! Cinema is such a dynamic and eclectic form, and MIFF is such a big festival, it’s not only about showing an array of films, it’s also about creating paths into filmmaking and cinema-going, and creating opportunities for people to be a part of the festival, to be a part of our cinema culture, and to hopefully instil in everyone a growing love of the movies.
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